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Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication · F5

CVE-2020-5939

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.1.2.7 / 15.1.0.4 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In versions 16.0.0-16.0.0.1, 15.1.0-15.1.0.3, 15.0.0-15.0.1.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.6, and 13.1.0-13.1.3.4, BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) systems on VMware, with an Intel-based 85299 Network Interface Controller (NIC) card and Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) enabled on vSphere, may fail and leave the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) in a state where it cannot transmit traffic.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

BIG-IP Virtual Edition systems running on VMware with an Intel 85299 NIC card and SR-IOV enabled may experience TMM (Traffic Management Microkernel) failures that prevent traffic transmission. The issue affects specific version ranges across multiple BIG-IP releases (13.x through 16.x).

MitigationDisable SR-IOV on affected BIG-IP VE systems running on VMware with the Intel 85299 NIC, or update to a patched version if available from F5.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Big Ip Access Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Advanced Firewall ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Advanced Web Application FirewallApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7> 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip AnalyticsApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Application Acceleration ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Application Security ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Ddos Hybrid DefenderApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1
Big Ip Domain Name SystemApplication
Affected:>= 13.1.0, <= 13.1.3>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2.7>= 15.1.0, < 15.1.0.4>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the BIG-IP platform
    Run 'tmsh show sys hardware' and look for platform type; or check VMware hypervisor documentation for the virtual environment
    Affected if The system is not a Virtual Edition (VE) on VMware, then not affected
  2. Verify Intel 85299 NIC is present
    Run 'tmsh show sys hardware' or check VMware vSphere client for network adapters; look for Intel 85299 NIC in hardware inventory
    Affected if The Intel 85299 NIC is not present in the system, then not affected
  3. Confirm SR-IOV is enabled
    Check VMware vSphere settings for the VM: go to VM Settings > Hardware > Network Adapter > check SR-IOV configuration; or run 'tmsh list sys virtual-disk' and look for SR-IOV related settings
    Affected if SR-IOV is disabled or not configured, then not affected
  4. Check the BIG-IP version
    Run 'tmsh show sys version' or 'bigstart status' to obtain the installed version; compare against affected ranges: 13.1.0-13.1.3, 14.1.0-14.1.2.6, 15.1.0-15.1.0.3, or 16.0.0
    Affected if The version falls within any of the affected ranges, the system is potentially vulnerable

A user is affected if they have BIG-IP VE running on VMware with an Intel 85299 NIC, SR-IOV enabled, and a version matching the affected ranges.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 14.1.2.7 / 15.1.0.4 / 16.0.1 or later
Fixed in 14.1.2.715.1.0.416.0.1
Interim mitigation

Disable SR-IOV on affected BIG-IP VE systems running on VMware with the Intel 85299 NIC, or update to a patched version if available from F5.

Fix this in Big Ip Access Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-5939 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data